Saturday, May 26, 2018

US oligarchs declare themselves in charge of "rules based international order," exempt powerful Communist China from rules, but insist Russia must accept US approved "norms," "regional security" and institutions, accuse Russia of "undermining" global order for merely saying, no thanks, to being ruled by US-Rand study, May 2017, paid for by Office of Net Assessment, Dept. of Defense...(US voters didn't elect George Soros. Meddling in other countries' affairs is an outrage and a crime)

May 2017 report "sponsored [paid for]by the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Net Assessment." Americans have never voted on nor agreed to be ruled
by self-appointed US defense/intel oligarchs who, seizing US taxpayer
dollars, have declared themselves in charge of an "international order." The "US leads the international order" operation is criminal and must stop immediately.

The report draws from analysis of Russian interests and views of the history of
the post-Cold War period, during which Russia's underlying foreign
policy interests have remained relatively consistent, including
preservation of the regime and of the country's territorial integrity.

Though Russia sought integration into Western institutions in the
1990s, this effort to more closely join the U.S.-led order was not
successful in their view because the West would not sufficiently
recognize Russia's interests. Russia began to perceive the U.S.-led
order as increasingly threatening following Western military operations
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Iraq, and due to perceived U.S.
facilitation of “color” revolutions such as that which occurred in the
former Soviet republic of Georgia, the researchers found.

“They [correctly] see expanding U.S. control as having been achieved through
regime change and disingenuous support for 'liberal democracy,'” said Andrew Radin,
lead author of the report and an associate political scientist at the
RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. “From a Russian
perspective, the United States no longer has the power to back up this
unilateral approach, and hence the current international order is not
sustainable.”

At the same time, Russia sees the potential for cooperation and
collaboration in some areas, such as support for the United Nations
system, which it believes bolsters Russia's position as a great power,
active participation in major international economic institutions, such
as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade
Organization, and cooperation in counterterrorism efforts.

By contrast, where Russia sees elements of the U.S.-led order
threatening its security, or undermining its influence in its
neighborhood, Russia has pursued policies to undermine American
influence by actively opposing European Union and NATO enlargement into
the former Soviet world, and has increasingly sought to undermine these
organizations.

“Russian views of order are [correctly]in clear opposition to U.S. global
leadership and efforts to expand Western institutions,” said Clinton
Reach, co-author of the report and a policy analyst at RAND. “Still,
there are areas where cooperation with Russia is possible under the
right conditions.”

The authors find that the optimal U.S. approach to Russia with
respect to the international order depends chiefly on two factors: the
importance of enabling former Soviet republics to freely join Western
institutions, and whether Russia will limit its aggression in Europe if
its interests are recognized.

Depending on how U.S. policymakers evaluate these factors, the United
States could recognize Russia's sphere of influence or double down on
the existing approach of promoting democracy [ie, regime change] and supporting the EU and
NATO. In practice, U.S. policy toward the European political and
security order will likely involve some elements of both.